The Crusaders
by Bierzun
Summary: Earth has been invaded by the Covenant and the outcome looks grim. However, a new force will soon arise, one which the Covenant will learn to fear... Chapter 4-5 coming soon
1. Prologue

Two days.... Two bloody days since the Covenant had found Earth. Two days and over half of the planet's population, gone..... The UNSC Marines had given it their all, but they knew there was little chance for victory. The Covenant came with such force, such speed, that 60% of the Earth's human defenses were wiped out in a single day. Whole nations overtaken, then destroyed minutes later. The only fighters left included the severely thinned marines, most cut from supply chains with droves of wounded men, and civilians who had taken up the cause. However, there was one last effort already put into motion by the UNSC, one they hoped would turn the tide of the war. They had seen this coming, and the Spartan program had been reactivated. It was time for a new force to take up the cause.......


	2. The Revival

Disclaimer: HaloTM is property of Bungie Studios. Any relations to characters or events in the game itself or the Halo novels are purely coincidental. : )

Chapter 1 - The Revival

It was dark. No light could be seen as he floated through the air. The silence was eerie, and the fact that he could not move was downright unsettling. He had been through this before, another wonderful unpleasantry of cryo sleep, the dream most experienced before they gained full consciousness. As had happened all the times before, the darkness gave way to light and mist filled his senses. He slowly felt his body making contact with the ground. The growing light became brighter and brighter. Then as it became too intense, he opened his eyes.

"He's awake, begin the process on all the others."  
  
Spartan277, the leader of the second generation of SpartanII soldiers, looked around the room he was in. It was not the same cryo facility he had gone under at, and it made him nervous. He noticed two navy techs walking down the row of pods to his right. As he watched them, a third came from that direction and stopped by him as he climbed out of the pod. The tech nodded a sloppy and hasty salute. "Something just doesn't feel right here....," the Spartan thought to himself. 

"Welcome to Antarctic Cryogenic Facility 398. Have a good sleep, Chief?" the tech said. His voice seemed depressed, and his humor very dry. The Spartan gave him a quick nod, but winced at his codename. Nobody wanted to be named after a dead hero, especially when he was a Spartan himself. The news of the Pillar of Autumn's apparent destruction had hit home an hour before he went under.

"How long have I been out for, why are we all being woken up, and what's the good word, if any?" the Chief asked hesitantly, trying to sound both serious but positive with the last comment, but knowing the response was not going to be good. His words seem to affect the tech like a punch to the stomach. His face seemed to darken as he looked back at the Spartan.

"I hate to say it, but there is no good word here. All hell's broken loose," the navy tech mumbled. The Spartan looked at the man with a serious face.

"What exactly do you mean? Don't tell me it's the Covenant." The tech just shook his head, then slowly nodded. Even the Chief felt a pang of fear as he realized the implications of this situation. He knew this was the news nobody wanted to hear. "How long ago? What happened? Tell me now!" Before the man could reply, a senior officer walked into the cryo bay. The Spartan wasted no time in snapping a crisp salute.

"Hello Chief, no need for the formalities. As soon as you and your friends over there get suited up, you are to report to the briefing room immediately. I believe you already understand the implications of this situation, and what is at stake. You are to come in full combat gear, and be ready to move out soon." 

To accustomed to forget it, he snapped another salute, answering with a stout "Yes sir!" He turned and walked across the room. The Spartans body armor was lined in a row against the far wall he found his personalized suit and stepped in, along with the help of the tech whom had broken the news to him. As soon as he put his helmet on and snapped down the visor, he felt the suit come to life. 

His armor was a step up from his predecessor's model, the MJOLNIR II. The energy shield produced by it was twice as powerful as the original and recharged up to five times faster. For tactical purposes, the energy of the shield could be controlled and concentrated in one spot on the armor at the thoughts of the user. The plating of the armor was also more advanced and much lighter, and could deflect nearly anything. The suit also multiplied the user's strength to a nearly mythical level.

He felt the liquid power flowing through his body as the muscular amplifiers in his suit activated. He watched in the visor/HUD as the suit ran thousands of system checks per second. A small motion sensor activated in the corner of his visor. He saw his own heart and vital rhythms displayed in an upper corner of the suit, and the shield monitor also popped up in the center of the visor's upper corner. He noticed the lack of his ammo counter linkup. Putting that aside, he waited till the green OK light flashed twice before he walked over to the cryo tubes that were just opening up.

The first tube opened up, releasing a wave of cryo mist into the room. Not missing a second, Spartan279 hopped out of the cryo tube. She was a fair sized woman, rather on the short side for a Spartan, with military-short brown hair and blue eyes. She always wore a serious face, but there was the soul of a mischievous rebel underneath it. Thus, she had been designated the explosives expert. Seeing her without a Jackhammer launcher on her shoulder or a readied grenade in her hand was a rare sight.

"Welcome back Wolf," the Chief said, managing to force a smile. She looked up at the team leader and was about to reply when she saw it. It was obvious that his smile was forced. His face looked grim and she knew something had come up. Chief saw her face tense up. "Get suited up, on the double." She nodded and jogged towards the armor racks. The Chief quickly moved to the next cryo tube.

The second tube opened like the first, spewing its misty contents into the room. Spartan280 looked out of her cryo tube. Upon seeing the Chief, she leisurely pushed herself out of the tube and quietly stepped down to the floor. She was a fairly tall woman, with light brown hair and rare purple eyes, a product of her visual augmentation. She always wore a deceptive smirk, which fit her personality. She considered herself the team's stealth expert, and was deadly with nothing but a pistol and her body. Droves of enemy sentries had been decimated without even knowing what hit them.

The Spartan glanced at the Chief matter-of-factly. "I'll be busy suiting up, so call me if you need me." She began walking towards the racks. Her leader just looked at her and shook his head. "Whatever you say Fox. Whatever you say."

As the Chief continued his walk down the row, the third pod opened. After taking an initial look around the room, Spartan283 hopped down to the floor. Even without his body armor, his brown eyes stood even with the bottom edge of the Chief's visor. He ran a hand through his brown, military shorn hair while checking out the room a bit more. As the team's only sniper, he had a sharp eye and a personality to match. Given an S2AM rifle and some high ground, he was an unstoppable force, and a true asset in the heat of a battle. He glanced over at the armor racks, then looked back at the Chief. "Guess I should get suited up?"

"Yes Church, on the double." Quick to catch the subtle look in the Chief's eyes, he rushed to join the other two Spartans. Even with the matters at hand, the Chief still couldn't manage not wondering about the origins of his strange codename.

He had little time to wonder as the last pod began to open. Remembering what it contained, the Chief managed to force a smile. Before the door of the cryo tube could fully open, Spartan285 jumped out onto the cryo bay floor. She had brown hair and matching eyes set on top of a wiry frame. Other than her complete fearlessness and her ferocious battle field personality, which led to her appropriate codename, she held no specialty position on the team. Still, the team could always count on her to lead a charge or do dangerous tasks, which she seemed to almost live for. Noticing the others suiting up, her face became even brighter. "Guess it's time to earn our pay, huh?"

Smirking back to her, the Chief made a hasty nod. "Nice to see _you're_ in a good mood, Rage." She smiled back at his usual humor and grabbed her armor from the rack.

Within two minutes, the Spartans were fully suited up and ready to go. Another navy tech led the team out of the room, down a short hallway, and into the weapons locker. The Chief walked over and grabbed an MA5B assault rifle and five pre-loaded clips, along with 1000 rounds of spare ammunition, a covenant plasma rifle, and a half dozen frag grenades. He liked to have a lot of firepower, but not too much to weigh him down. Also in his weaponry, he had a special device that could triple the power of his armors shielding, but only for a few moments.

Wolf entered a specially sealed explosive room to pick up her weapon of choice, her specially modified Jackhammer man portable missile launcher, formally know as the M19. She could drain energy from her shield to turn the jackhammer's usually slow moving rockets into veritable cruise missiles. She also slung three canisters or rockets over her shoulders, and loaded almost all of her ammo pouches with an assortment of frag and plasma grenades. Due to the weight of the typical load of a demolitions expert, her suit, when produced, had been equipped with extra muscular amplifiers. 

Fox walked over to a special case to pick up her specialty pistol, which had a modified barrel for greater accuracy and a built-in silencer for sound suppression, and 200 specially made rounds for higher penetration abilities. She also picked up her special camo generator, allowing her to become nearly invisible for a period of thirty seconds. Not liking the disturbance created by grenades, she only took two.

Church quickly located his weapon, an S2AM sniper rifle with an enhanced scope. The extra zoom abilities allowed him to provide his team with the type of cover fire most marines could only dream of. He proceeded to load his ammo pouches with 100 of the large, armor piercing rounds. 

Deciding to try something new, Rage walked over to the experimental weapons rack and appropriated both a modified version of the MA5B which included a larger clip, barrel, and had a scope, as well as a pair of small but powerful S3R sub-machine guns. Both weapons were considered experimental because of the huge amount of recoil they produced, enough to tear the arm off a normal marine. Rage merely saw this as a acceptable risk and an interesting challenge. By the time she was done, her ammo pouches rattled, loaded to the bursting point with thousands of rounds of automatic weapons ammo.

Loaded with nearly enough firepower to destroy a good portion of a Covenant armada, and the cryo facility they were in for that matter, the team of five Spartans headed down another hallway, much longer this time, to a reinforced hatch guarded by two well armed marines. The words "Briefing Room" were stenciled above the doorway. The marine on the left keyed up the pad next to him, causing the hatch to slide apart with a slight mechanical whistle. The team took a final look around the hallway, then stepped through the door.


	3. The Plan

Disclaimer: HaloTM is property of Bungie Studios. Any relations in this story to the Halo game or novels are purely incidental. : )

Chapter 2 - The Plan

The team found themselves standing at the back of a large, dimly lit amphitheater. Other than seats, a large circular hologram projector, and a makeshift workstation in the back corner of the room, the place was barren. One of the Marines, who had been glancing at the workstation monitors, looked back to them. The Chief immediately recognized him as the same senior officer he had met before. The man walked up to the group of Spartans and briefly shook hands with them. 

"Hello, I'm Senior-Lieutenant Wiles M. Johnson. I speak for all of my Marines in this base when I say it is an honor and a relief to have you all here. As if you haven't been able to tell already, I am the commanding officer of this installation. There's no need for introductions on your part though. I've read over your files many times and already know you are the best of the best." Suddenly turning serious, he motioned to a lit of row of seats at the front of the room. "I'm very sorry, but there's no more time for introductions. Please be seated so we can begin the review of our situation and your new mission."

One by one, the Spartans took a seat, setting his or her weapon down in front of them. Lt. Johnson walked past them and took his place in front of the projector. Keying a sequence on his handheld computer, the room fell dark and the hologram machine snapped on with a slight burst of static.

The first image Johnson brought up was a large rotating globe, representing the Earth. "Two days ago, at exactly 01:45:57 UNSC Standard Time, a fleet of nearly 30 Covenant flagships, accompanied by nearly 100 cruisers, entered the outer edge of our solar system. Within 90 minutes, all outer and inner colony defenses were summoned to protect Earth immediately. Our total forces included 592 fully armed attack cruisers, carrying thousands of smaller Longsword fighters, and nearly 5 million Marines were stationed at strategic points on the surface of the planet." At this statement, multiple blue dots appeared both on the globe's surface and in orbit.

"At first, the fighting was chaotic. Most of the enemy cruisers were destroyed quickly, but the flagships proved to be more powerful than we had anticipated. After two hours, 190 of our ships had been destroyed, another 57 practically crippled. We did however, manage to destroy 13 of their flagships, and almost three fourths of their cruiser fleet. But that," he said with a depressed look on his face, "was when we learned we had severely underestimated the vengefulness of the Covenant."

"We had expected this to be an all out space battle, with the glassing of the planet as our prize if we lost. However, three hours into the battle, the Covenant ships unexpectedly launched a ground assault force consisting of an estimated 500,000 fully loaded drop ships and nearly 1,000,000 single drop pods, housing mostly elites armed to the teeth. It seemed as if they wanted to exterminate us all personally. At this point the space battle slackened, and the real fight began planet side. We found out quickly that the Covenant had not fooled around with us. The soldiers they sent out were the best of the best." The Lieutenant tapped his data pad, transforming the land surfaces on the globe to patches of red and blue.

"Enemy controlled areas are displayed in red, while our boys are in blue. Now watch this." A holographic mission clock popped into view beside the planet. The time it showed was exactly 36 hours ago. The clock started up at an accelerated pace. The Spartans watched part in interest, part in horror as the red blobs spread out, covering up more then half of the blue areas. The remaining friendly controlled areas had been downsized considerably. They were glad to see some blue remaining as the clock hit the current time and continued normally. 

Johnson began talking again. "As you can see, nearly two thirds of our forces have been eliminated, not to mention half of the Earth's current population. The Covenant have really gained a helluva' lot of ground on us in a short amount of time, which leads us to the mission at hand." The globe and clock disappeared, leaving only the Marine insignia. At Johnson's mention of the mission, the team of Spartans sat up in their seats and made sure to listen intently.

"UNSC Command ordered you be woken up, because they had formulated a plan that could possibly make victory a reality. At around this time yesterday, a communications compound in lower Africa was taken by a group of hostiles." A 3D image of the complex was brought up on the projector. "This installation was responsible for direct communications from the planet to our forces in space. Without it, our battleships are practically on their own. Command has figured that if we can re-take this compound, we will be able to form our remaining space forces into an "orbital screen" to block Covenant from reaching the surface of the planet. This alone would almost completely eliminate the enemy ground forces ability to call in reinforcements from space. Also, this would make life easier for our battleship pilots. A ship in position in the screen would be covered from both the back and sides but the Earth, and it would only have to deal with enemy assaults from directly in front of it. Yet another advantage is that this will cut off a major source of communications between Covenant ground forces."

The Master Chief took this moment to speak up. "So Lieutenant, you want us to go in and free up that installation, correct?" Johnson nodded back. "Do you know what kind of resistance we will be up against?" the Chief questioned, hoping the answer would be favorable,

"Recon is inconclusive, due to the fact that all attempts for recon ended in failure, but, from what we understand, the complex is under very heavy guard. Our best estimate is that the enemy has full air support and numerous ground supports. Before one Marine was eliminated, he gave us an estimate of about 100-150 hostiles guarding the perimeter, including mechanical support. Another was able to push fairly far into the complex, giving us a number of anywhere from 500-1000 guards, consisting of mainly grunts, hunters, and elites." Fox saw her chance to speak up.

"Will this, by any chance, be a stealth mission? Like, infiltrate and eliminate?"

The Lieutenant managed to force a smile. "I'm sorry Fox, but this is an all out battle. Your mission is not only to re-take the communications center, but also to destroy any and all Covenant forces at the installation. All of you, along with a squad of 50 marines, will be placed by pelican dropship exactly 3km outside of the furthest enemy patrol line." A small X appeared on the outskirts of the compound. "From there, it is up to you on how you proceed. Remember that while you and the Marines will be working together, their well being is _not_ your problem. The last thing you need is to have to baby around a bunch of grown men because you're afraid of them dying. They are Marines, so they know what they signed up for. Is ALL of this clear, soldiers?" 

The team answered with a unified and excited, "SIR YES SIR!"

"This mission must not fail. The fate of the war, and the human race for that matter, depends upon it. With that, you are dismissed. Report to the hangar by way of the hallway you came into this room by, on the double."

Another chorus went up form the Spartans. As each grabbed their weapons and jogged up the long ramp to the amphitheater doors, the Chief approached the Lieutenant. "Sir, may I please have a copy of the complex map, as well as the mission parameters?" Johnson smiled and handed the Chief a data disk he had premade, anticipating his question. 

With the disk safely inserted in the data slot in his helmet, the Chief grabbed his weapons and raced to join the others. The team exited the Briefing Room and jogged down the hallway in unison. At the end was an even larger metal hatch. Rage hit the pad next to the door and it slid open. 

The team was met by a blast of Antarctic air as the walked out into the hangar. Five Pelicans, large, stubby winged transports, sat on the large landing pad. A Marine standing by one of them motioned for the Chief and his crew. The Spartans hopped into the transport, which was already jammed with heavily armed Marines. As the Pelican began it's hovering U-turn, the Chief could not get over the way in which the men were staring at him and the other members of his team. The Pelican's pilot broke the silence as she keyed up the speakers in the back compartment. 

"Okay people, I'm ready for takeoff. Better hold onto something." The transport shuddered, then shot out away from the base. "Hope you all brought something to read," the pilot joked. "It's gonna be a long flight." A moment later, her voice came back over the intercom. "By the way, welcome aboard, Crusaders." The soldiers in the back let up some shouts and cheers, giving the Spartans a few pats on the back.

"So," the Chief and the rest of his team thought to themselves, "I guess we're the 'Crusaders' now." He wasn't sure about what the others thought, but the Chief liked the nickname. It seemed to have more meaning to him than "Spartan". He just hoped they would be able to live up to their new name.

The soldiers in the Pelican had little time to think before the pilot hit the speakers again. This time though, her voice was riddled with fear. "Attention soldiers and pilots, my long range gear is picking up six enemy aircraft coming in at high speeds, dropships from the looks of it. I suggest we change course for now until the danger has passed." The other Pelicans sent their acknowledgements and banked hard and away to the left. The men in the soldier compartments could only watch out of the openings as the six drop ships came into view and headed towards the base they had just left. The Chief silently said a prayer for the men and women of Antarctic Cryogenic Facility 398.


	4. Communication Breakdown

Chapter 3 - Communication Breakdown

Jungle mist poured into the soldier compartment as the Pelican dropped in low for its final approach. The total trip had taken nearly 12 hours, and both the Marines and Crusaders were ready for some action. As the ship continued to drop towards the thick canopy below, the soldiers could hear the landing stabilizers roaring while the Pelicans dropped into a small opening in the trees and bush. They were still hovering a good 15 feet above the ground when the pilot keyed up the intercom.

"Okay everybody, this flight's been fun, but it's over. Get out, on the double. After you complete the mission, signal us via the comm. device inside the compound. From there, HQ will take control of the center by remote, and any of you who survive will be lifted out of here."

The Marines began piling out into the thick brush below them, shouting enthusiastically. The Crusaders were the last to jump out of the ships, the Chief going first. The five landed in some matted grass and watched as the Pelicans quickly flew away into the midnight sky. The Chief took no time in looking over his men, the scenery, and other important details. As he did so, a soldier he supposed to be the Marine commander came forward. 

"Hello Master Chief, good to see you and the rest of your group. My name is Sergeant Brian Lantec. I don't know what the lieutenant told you, but you are to direct us as you please, however, we still reserve the right to act on our own. Our well being is of no concern to you. We're just here as backup." The Sarge cracked a weak smile. "With that over, I sure as hell hope you have a plan, cause' I'm running a blank." 

The Chief gave him a curt nod and addressed the entire group around him. "Our first move will be to put some distance between us and this drop-zone. There's no doubt the Covenant picked up our Pelicans on approach and already have sent out an assault team to deal with us. Once we get far enough away from here, I plan to move quickly back towards and around the base's defense perimeter. According to the map I've received, there is a slight rise in the land about 400m north of the comm. center. This will be our first objective. From there, we'll have a good firing line down into the clearing around the base. Anyway, we need to go right now, move out!" Both his team and the Marines gave a quick "yes sir!" and headed out into the brush.

*********

Tiro Tymonee' stood at the large observation window of the human communication center. He watched thoughtfully as his gleaming purple Wraiths circled the installation in the night. A formation of Ghosts slid past on a patrol round. A large group of Hunters, visible only due to the intense perimeter lighting of the facility, stood further out into the clearing. His sensitive hearing picked up the whine of a squad of Banshees soaring over the building. He somewhat smiled to himself as he watched his perfectly orchestrated defenses flow smoothly. However, his thoughts were interrupted as a lower ranking elite came up behind him.  
  
"What news is so important that you must barge in here and interrupt my time of solitude?" Tiro asked gruffly. The lower elite cringed at the aggravation in his superior's voice. He knew this was one person he did not want to make angry. Tiro was not only a gold armor-clad elite and decorated Field Master, but one of the prophet's very best, which was why he was able to overtake this well guarded installation so easily.

After a few moments, the subordinate managed to make eye contact. "Your Excellency, the human radar detection gear in this installation has picked up what appears to be four human class-B drop ships. Last readings show them putting down momentarily in a spot 5 units due South of here. I've only come here for your orders sir."

Tiro immediately took the possible insertion of human troops as an insult to him and his warriors. "Send out a standard search and destroy team, on the double!" He gave a cocky smile. "These humans shall pay for such a foolhardy act."

**********

After nearly two full hours of walking, the Marines and Crusaders neared their objective. The situation appeared better than the Chief had hoped for. The hostile search team had failed to find them, giving them more time and a greater chance at an ambush. The rise which he had selected had a near perfect view into the valley below, but retained the natural airborne cover provided by the dense forest. Slowly and carefully, the Chief surveyed the land for a brief moment before giving his orders. He turned around to address the platoon of soldiers before him.

"Ok everyone, listen up. The lieutenant said this is a non-stealth attack. However, rather than heading in with our guns blazing and heads up our asses, I've opted to begin the assault ambush style. Let's get in position quickly and quietly, on the double!"

"Wolf," he said, looking at his teammate, "you and the other rocket jockeys get up to the very edge of that rise. Get a good vantage point that allows a clear range of fire, but don't reveal yourself to any airborne units. You are to pick out and track the targets presenting the most threat, mainly Hunters and any mechanical units. I want all Wraiths taken out immediately. With the tightness of our current formation, a single volley could take us all out. Finally, hold your fire until I give the command." 

"Got it boss!" Wolf gave a quick nod and led a group of marines to the top of the rise.

"Church, you and your sniper buddies over there get up and in between the launchers. When the order is given, concentrate your fire on infantry units only. Again, no one is to fire until a command is given."   
  
"Understood Chief, we'll be ready to go ASAP," the Crusader responded. He and a group of 10 snipers headed out to take their positions.

"Fox, Rage. You will accompany the remaining marines in the charge at the base. For now, you are to guard our six just in case these Covenant are smarter than I expected." The two Crusaders and Marines nodded and began to fall out and take positions at the base of the rise. 

"As for Lantec, the special ops. troops, and myself; we're all on Banshee duty. From what I can make out, there are a total of 10 Banshees in the air above this facility. You all concentrate on your own targets while we take out those flyers, ok?" All the Marines gave their acknowledgements as they switched over to the main combat frequencies.

As the Marines made their final preparations, the Chief walked over to the Sergeant and took one of the long-barreled devices from the pack he'd been carrying. "So," the Crusader said, not particularly fond of the weapon, "this is the tech department's newest gizmo?"

"That's right sir." The officer responded. "We like to call it the bug-zapper. It's specifically designed to take down airborne targets, Banshees. It uses a large compressed air cylinder to fire a small munitions tipped with a tiny electrode at high velocity, delivering a super powerful EMP blast on impact. This device can instantly cripple a Banshee, or even a Ghost, given a hit to a gap in the armor plating. Anyway, it's a lot better than a rocket or gunfire."  
  
Now impressed, the Chief shouldered the weapon and quickly familiarized himself with it. "Ten Banshees, 12 gunners... I like these odds," he thought, smiling to himself. Activating the device's auto locking system, he scanned through the treetops to find a target. He located a quick moving banshee heading a bit left of their current position. The weapon's computer projected the probable flight path of the vehicle, as well as displayed an estimated aim point. Checking a final time to make sure the other members of the bug-zapper team were ready, he keyed up the comm. system. "BANSHEE TEAM, OPEN FIRE!"

There was a suppressed 'THUMP' as twelve compressed air weapons fired in unison. A few seconds later, ten Banshees could be seen plummeting down from the navy sky at incredible speed. The Marines watched as, one at a time, the aircraft rammed into the ground and exploded in a ball of blue and orange flame. All the patrols, mechanical units, everything; came to a grinding halt. The enemy was in disarray as explosions rocked the clearing. One Banshee dropped directly on top of a Wraith tank, causing both vehicles to explode. Hostile units were scrambling to avoid pieces of flaming debris, and chaos reigned supreme. The Chief simply smiled and gave out his next order. "AMBUSH TEAM, BEGIN FIRING!"

Nothing could be heard in the instant the Marines and Crusaders fired. Sixteen Jackhammer rocket tubes fired in unison. A few seconds later, a wave of explosions shook the area as the rockets from the first volley made contact with their targets. Glad to see the four Wraiths left, along with some Ghosts explode in flames, the Chief ordered the next volley. Eleven S2AM snipers began a constant barrage of fire. Multiple infantry units fell instantly as the hyper velocity slugs made contact. In this round, all the remaining Ghosts were pulverized by two or more rockets. Ground units continued to fall as sheet after sheet of sniper rounds tore through them. 

Suddenly, through the smoke of the explosions and the dirt thrown up by them, the Chief noticed a lone hunter sliding out to the right, fuel rod cannon charged. Nobody was firing on it, and it was ready to launch a blast from its weapon. Before the Chief could give out an order, the Hunter fired. One Marine, lucky enough to take his eye from his scope in time, screamed, "INCOMING!" Soldiers scrambled as they tired to move out of the way of the arcing projectile's path. Two seemingly beams of light instantly light up the sky. One of the beams hit the green projectile head on, destroying it. The other flew with amazing speed towards the Hunter. Before the large creature could react, it was blown to the ground, minus a good portion of its torso.

The Marines, puzzled, took some wandering looks around. They soon focused on Wolf, who held her specialized launcher, tubes steaming. "Wow...," one of the Marines ventured. "Nice save!" Wolf smiled, even though the man could not see it, and nodded her thanks for the complement. 

"I agree Wolf, very nice." The Chief had barely finished him comment before a plasma shot sizzled over his head. It appeared the Covenant had taken advantage of the distraction and had organized a hasty offensive. "Snipers, get back to work, they're probably coming at us with everything they got!" 

The snipers returned to their positions and saw the remaining guard units were heading towards their position. However, the screen, comprised of only elites and grunts, was destroyed by a single wave of sniper fire. Only one elite, with three visible bullet holes in its body, continued to run up towards the humans. The snipers reloaded and fired one shot each. The force of eleven sniper rounds hitting at once flung the elite back down the hill into a heap of its dead comrades.

Seeing this as the moment of opportunity, the Chief rallied his troops and Marines for the charge ahead. "Marines, drop all long range weapons and prep your rifles. I want five lines of ten soldiers each. Wolf, Fox, Rage, and I will be up front. Church will wait up here until we're nearly across to provide any cover fire if need-be." The soldiers around him grew impatient. "OK, are we ready?" A powerful "YES SIR" was shouted by all. 

After watching the men take positions and getting with his team up front, the Chief turned to look at the installation. He pointed out their target; a wide open entrance to the base in the form of a half-open cargo bay door. His finger slipped down the assault rifle he was carrying and flipped off the safety. "All right men, CHARGE!"

**********

Tiro strode down the hall as he made his rounds of the human installation. The hallway to the main control room was rather narrow, but the lower ranking Covenant did their best to move out of his path as quickly as possible. However, one Grunt wasn't paying attention, busy talking in its strange language to its partner. The elite stopped, watching the unaware Grunt's partner quickly step out of the middle of the hall. Before the other Covenant could turn around, Tiro drew back a heavily armored leg and punted him a long distance down the hall, directly into a wall. The Grunt did not move. The elite smiled to himself as the hall was quickly emptied of all activity, leaving a clear path for him. 

He ascended a small incline in the hallway and arrived at a heavily armored hatch. He reached out a clawed hand and tried to punch in a code on the door's keypad, cursing the humans for the size of the small buttons. Finally, he hit a green switch and the door slid open. Tiro waiting only a moment before stepping through.

The control room was set up much like a three-dimensional dart board. There were three levels, each dropping about 6 feet from the one surrounding it. At the highest and outmost ring, monitoring equipment lined the walls showing outside conditions and internal security screens. The middle ring served mostly for control of the base's automated defenses, most of which were destroyed in the takeover. The innermost ring, the bulls-eye of the dartboard, was devoted to control of the powerful communication equipment. With this equipment under Covenant control, the humans were at a great disadvantage in the war.

Tiro's head swiveled from left to right as he surveyed the troops around him. Grunt technicians were seated around the main computer terminals in the center of the room, operating the communication equipment. Other Grunts throughout the room stared emptily at view screens linked to base security cameras. However, upon noticing the commander's presence in the room, all the soldiers snapped to attention, then went back to their work at twice their earlier speed. Tiro cracked an elite "smile" as he watched their reactions. He moved with an imperialistic stride as he walked down the ramp towards the center of the room. He had just made it to the terminals when a loud explosion shook the floor beneath him.  
  
"WHAT WAS THAT?!" the elite growled at one of the Grunts in the security ring. 

The grunt looked back trembling, and then turned to his workstation. "I don't know your Excellency... transferring feed from external camera 182 to the central view screen." The elite's cocky attitude quickly faded as the view screen flickered on, just in time to show a Banshee crash into one of his beautiful Wraith tanks. Both went up in a huge ball of blue-red flame. More Banshees fell from the sky, each rocking the base as it exploded on impact with the ground. Tiro's well planned patrol paths broke up as soldiers ran to avoid the falling aircraft. Troops that couldn't move in time were engulfed in balls of flame or impaled with burning debris. 

"I want a damage report, NOW!" Anger and rage boiled in Tiro's voice. The technicians worked feverishly to collect as much info as they could for a report. The lead technician turned back to the elite.

"Banshee assault team has been completely neutralized. We have lost one Wraith, two ghosts, and approximately 7% of out perimeter troops. No damage to the base or communication equipment." Tiro took as moment to process this information. The humans had committed a great indecency to him, and they would pay. Before he could say anything to his troops, another of the Grunts spoke up in a frightened voice.

"Multiple close range radar targets inbound! They're headed right for us your Excellency!" Tiro could do nothing but watch as numerous streams of orange flame headed towards his mechanized units. Before the vehicles could move, the objects made contact and took more than half of his units out in an orange blast. A series of dull thuds could be heard from the outside. A few seconds later, another wave of explosions shook the ground. Some of the Grunts sat frozen at their workstations, mesmerized by the carnage going on outside. Suddenly, the view screen was clouded with white projectile contrails. Cracks echoed throughout the valley. 

"Munitions used appear to be human explosive projectiles and large caliber sniper rounds," a grunt spoke up. "Our forces are falling much too fast!" The technician paused for a moment. "We have confirmation of complete destruction of our mechanized units. Our remaining ground forces are being decimated by sniper fire. I need an order your Excellency..."

The gold elite continued to watch as his glorious army fell apart in front of him. Managing to control the mounting rage building within him, he spoke up to the entire control room. "There is nothing we can do for our brothers outside. Put this base under lockdown protocol, right now! You are to prepare for a human invasion. Finally, ready the trap we have prepared shall they try a head on charge." The thought of his backup plan allowed Tiro to smile for a moment. 

The sounds of carnage and destruction stopped almost as quickly as they had started. Nothing could be seen on the external view screens, at least at first. Then, the elite noticed a small speck appear on the bluff just north of the base. "Someone zoom in on that, now!" he ordered. A nearby Grunt tapped a few buttons on the control panel, and the image magnified to show a human soldier. However, the sight of this one made the elite's heart skip a beat. The human was wearing a suit of brownish-green armor. "_Just like the human from Halo..,_" Tiro thought.

The armored human looked down at the base. Then with only a wave of his hand above his head, he began jogging down the hillside. The mood of the room grew solemn as he was followed by another armored human…then two more. As if it weren't enough, five rows of human Marines followed the four armored monsters. Tiro noticed his hand had a slight quiver to it, and had also noticed the others in the room picking up on this. "Give me an intercom linkup to this entire base," he mumbled to a technician beside him. He grabbed the odd human device and began to speak.

"This is Field Master Tiro Tymonee'. I am telling you now we are about to enter the fight of our lives men. The outcome of this battle may very well determine whether or not we eliminate the human scum from this universe. Most of our external defenses have failed, so be prepared to face a group of as many as fifty Marines, and as we have learned recently, four of those vile "Spartan" warriors. Fight well! Fight hard! Make the Prophets proud!" As he clicked off the device, he watched the human advance. His fear had been replaced by excitement and the thought of a glorious battle.

"Activate our backup defenses now! Raise the turrets!"


End file.
